Gayle goes overboard in criticism of umpires

	Chris Gayle had reacted angrily over the umpiring during Jamaica's 13-run loss to Barbados in their latest Carib Beer Series match © Getty Images

When all else fails, at least there's insularity. Our
standards may be in free fall in every other aspect of West Indies cricket, but the irrational passions and emotions associated with petty territorial rivalries and jealousies remain as powerful as at any stage in the long history of a regional game that both binds and divides us.

Not so, you say, venturing to suggest that the integration movement over the past 45 years has gradually eroded those monumental pillars of prejudice? Well, here's a statement that will emphasise just how swiftly we retreat into the corrosive domain of parochialism: Chris Gayle was dead wrong and should be censured for his allegations of bias against the umpires in Jamaica's match against Barbados at Kensington Oval.

Now, the reactions to that statement will, in the vast majority, be based on who likes or doesn't like Gayle, who likes or doesn't like Jamaicans, who takes this issue as a personal attack on umpire Terrence Birbal and therefore all Trinis, and who sees this as vindication of their calls for our boy Daren Ganga to be given serious consideration for the West Indies captaincy again.

Oh, and how could I forget, there's also the small matter of ethnicity. So those with both feet planted firmly in the camp of Ramnaresh Sarwan (as a more realistic alternative to Ganga) on the basis of his race, will be muttering to the many of like mind that it good for them (it varies from "we" to "them" depending on which side of the insular/racial divide you're on) for supporting Gayle's retention as skipper for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka.

Trying to reason with such blind fanaticism is futile. Maybe that's why a one-eyed giant like Gayle is king, or at least captain. Explaining that it is possible to endorse the left-handed opener's leadership credentials, on the basis of performances in South Africa, while at the same time disagreeing strongly with his childish outburst on Monday, makes no sense to the tunnel-visioned.

To paraphrase one of our great masters from the North, you are either with us or with the terrorists, and in this case, the Jamaicans.

Anyway, whatever variety of spin (at least this is one area where the slow bowlers excel) is put on the issue, the simple matter is that Jamaica's leader and most senior player was way out of line in publicly criticising the officiating and, even worse, implying an inherent bias against his country whenever they play away from home.

To jump to his defence on the basis of proven errors by Birbal and Barbadian Dalton Holder that contributed to the visitors' 17-run loss on the final morning of the first-class fixture in Bridgetown completely misses the point. In the considerably wider context of West Indianness, it is incredibly narrow-minded of any regional leader to be spouting off with such parochial accusations and at the same time fuelling the narrow-minded siege mentality that allows the aggrieved parties to overlook their own blatant shortcomings by pretending that the whole world is against them.

Every territory revels in beating the drum of victimisation, while at the same time claiming to be the most level-headed of them all. It is an unfounded proclamation that justifies and intensifies the myopia that remains as a perpetual blight on everything we try to achieve collectively in these parts.

During the regional first-class final in 2003 at the old Kensington Oval, I recall Philo Wallace, in the course of an interview before the start of a day's play, commenting that Barbadians had to work twice as hard as others to make it into the West Indies team. That such statements bear no relation to reality hardly matters, for it gains considerable currency with the local populace, who never let the facts get in the way of a convenient and comforting perception.

Why comforting? Because accepting any of the many external conspiracy theories concocted by evil forces externally means that you don't have to confront the growing reality of the demons within, until it's too late to do anything meaningful about it.

Only last week, Guyana's Roger Seepersad, former development officer of the West Indies Cricket Board, was reported as expressing concern about the "Trinidadianisation" of the WICB, just as there were complaints about "Jamaicanisation" during Pat Rousseau's tenure at the helm and "Bajanisation" when Wes Hall and then Teddy Griffith held the reins of power.

And just in case you hold fast to the view that we Trinis are the only mature, broad-minded people left, just keep in mind the public demonstrations and sabotage at the Queen's Park Oval after Deryck Murray was omitted for the first Test against England in 1981, the tabling of motions by the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control representatives at WICB meetings alleging the victimisation of T&T players (1994) and a conspiracy to deprive Brian Lara of the West Indies captaincy (1997).

"They damn right!" some of you will shout in support of those positions, which is exactly what many of the citizens of every other cricketing territory say in defence of their own unprincipled, emotion-laden diatribes.

In this poisonous environment, Gayle's grave error of judgment will become just another episode of the to-ing, fro-ing and flag-waving that characterises contentious issues in West Indies cricket, with impartial assessment sacrificed at the altar of popular sentiment.

And still we wonder why we're in this mess.